Join us in a celebration of the 2023 on the Verge writing contest featuring readings from the winners!

Co-sponsored by UVic Libraries and the office of Equity and Human Rights (EQHR), and with significant support from other units on campus, the annual on the Verge Writing and Spoken Word Contest showcases and celebrates emerging UVic student voices with an annual theme under the broad rubric of equity, diversity and human rights.

The contest theme for 2023 was dialogue. Spoken word artist Johnny D. Trinh was our celebrity judge.

Dialogue is essential to navigating our world. As we connect, clash, collaborate, and encounter a dynamic range of ideas and ideologies, we shape the future through our engagement with each other. Sometimes our discussion produces deeper understanding and transformation of hearts and minds; other times, attempts at dialogue further the divide between people and groups, cementing ideas and divisions.

We asked students to consider the following: What impact does dialogue have on our relationships and vital social issues? How do our values and traditions influence the ways in which we engage in dialogue? How can dialogue surpass the boundaries of identity and belief? Where and why does dialogue fail? And how can we reconnect using the power of our voices to bridge the distances that divide us?

2023 winners:

Fiction:

1st place: Emily Clark “Raccoon Makes it Right”

2nd place: Eva Haas “Slurpees”

Non-Fiction:

1st place: Daniela Rassvetaieff “Unsaid”

2nd place: Jade Wildey “Amber Ray – Girl in the Glass”

Poetry:

1st place: Xinhe Hu “What I’ve Learned About Law School So Far”

2nd place: Maya Somogyi “Fissures in Ceramic”

Spoken Word:

1st place: Ashley de Kroon “Thoughts of Used to Be”

2nd place: Daniella Pope “My Ability to Speak”

Join us on Zoom or in-person at UVic Libraries to hear the voices of our students as they share their stories and songs of dialogue.